Signal or alarm apparatus.



A. N. PIERMAN.

SIGNAL 0R ALARM APPARATUS.

APPLICATION men mac. 1. 191a.

Patented Aug. 27, 1918'.

a! he 59 device, as

my invention,

ALEXANDER 1\T. PIERMAN', 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

SIGNAL 0R ALARM APPARATUS.

To all whom it may 00mm;-

Be it known that'I, ALEXANDER N. PIER- MAN, acitizen of the United. States, and a resident of Newark,.cou nty'of Essex, and

State of New Jersey, have invented certain new andluseful Improvements in Signal or Alarm Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

v My invention relates to signal or alarm apparatus designed more particularly for use on vehicles as automobiles, street cars and so forth, to give warning of the approach thereof, and in which a diaphragm or other vibratory means is caused to vibrate so as to produce a loud sound, an amplifier being preferably used for strengthening and directing the sound produced.

l The object ofthepresent invention isto improve, in certain important particulars, .on my prior Patent No. 1,091,533, granted March. 31, 1911, wherein I have disclosed such an apparatus in which the vibratory the'diaphragimis vibrated by an oscillatory rotating member, such as an unbalanced weight.

tary "oscillating member, and the invention is particularly. directed to the improved mounting and construction of the rotary oscillatiiigmember and the parts immediately coiinected therewith.

With the foregoing and related objects in view, my invention consists in the parts, im-

provements' and combinations jherein set 35- forth and claimed. y 1 I 7 My invention'islillustrated in the accompanying drawings 'asb'eing embodied in a hand horn or manuallyv operated horn, but

it is to. be understood; thatth embodiment 4 0 is chosen for the purpose of illustration only and for afiording a clear understanding of which is not to belimited to if the embodiment shown for illustration.

7 Ii said drawin'gs which form part of this specification and wliereinthe same reference numerals are applied uniformly to designate the same parts throughout, Figure 1 is a view of a hand'horn embodying my invention,partly in side elevation and partly. in

longitudinal, vertical crosssectionv Fig. 2

is a transverse section of the view taken on.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 7,1916. Serial No. 135,516.

Reference charactershown, the

The present invention utilizes such a ro-.

. guide member Patented Aug. 27, 1918.

line 2-2 of Fig. 1,and Figs. 3, 1 and 5 are "detail views partly in section showing forms of bearing for the shaft ofthe rotating oscillatory device.

1O designates the amplifier which is preferably made use of, and 11 the vibrating device,hereshown as a diaphragm. 12 indicatesthe inclosing and supporting member for the operating parts,

here illustrated as a shell; These several parts may be secured together in any con- 1 811181113 mode as by rivets 13, and the diaphragm 11 may be interposed between the amplifier 10 and the shell 12, as may also the supporting devices for the working parts, guides and so forth. In the form member 15 are so interposed, the flange 16 of the shell 12 being struck out or bulged as shown at 17 18, to permit such interposition and securing of said parts 1 1 and 15. The diaphragm 11 has an anvil member 19 secured thereto which has formed therein a slot 20 through which the shaft 21 of the oscillatory rotating. device is passed. Such shaft also passes through a slot 22 in the 15, and said slot 22, as shown in Fig: 2, is both longer and narrower than the slot20 so that while the slot '22 serves to confine'the shaft 21to movement toward and away from the diaphragm 11, itdoes not contact with the member 15 at'the ends thereof, but does' contact with theanvil 19 atthe ends of the slot-20. Such provision of a guide member for preventing the shaft "fIOHL having contact with the-member 19,

except at theendsof the slot 20, forms the subject-matter of my prior application Serial No. 107,081, filed July .1, 1916, and is not included'in the present invention, except bearing member 14: and the guide 7 as the same'forms part of the novel combinations herein disclosed.

' According to the present invention I preferably make use of a shaft for the rotary and oscillatory device, which is' rigid throughout its length and which may be --made up, if desired, from asingle piece of .material, making provision at the. bearing therefor at the end opposite the anvil block, herein illustrated as the lower end, for a simple. form of universal mounting, whereby said shaft may be permitted to oscillate freely at the same time that it is rotating. In the form shown, the shaft 21, at its bearing end, is loosely connected to the bearing plate 14. Such loose connection may be secured in a variety of ways, as by providing a hole 23 in the bearing member 14 and passing a screw 2a therethrough of slightly less diameter than the hole 23 and screwing said screw tightly home in the screw-threaded hole 25 in the end of the shaft 21, so that it is held securely in place as by causing the end of the screw to come into contact with the bottom of the hole, leaving a portion of the screw shank, however, projecting under the screw head. This is a simple form of mounting for theshaft 21 on its bearing member 14, but substantially the same result may be secured in other ways, as, for instance, the. shaft 21 of Fig. 4 may be formed with a reduced portion 26 and a head 27 (a form of shaft 7 which may be readily and conveniently made on a screw machine), and with such construction the bearing plate 14; may be provided with a slot 28 for receiving the neck 26 ofthe shaft 21, and after the same has been introduced within the said slot, the slot may be closed in any convenient Way, as by having alined holes 29, 29 in the member 14: through which a pin or piece of wire 30 may be passed and secured in any convenient way as by bending over the ends thereof, as. shown, and still other forms of construction may be used which will serve to confine the lower end of the shaft within comparatively narrow limits and at the same time will permit it to rotate, to have more or less side to side movement, and also some freedom for endwise movement, so that it may oscillate freely while rotating. It is to be understood, of course, that the bearing member let (or let), which is shown adjacent to the lower part of the diaphragm, may occupy various other positions with respect to the diaphragm. The shaft is formed with, or has secured thereto, anunbalanced weight, as 31, which, upon rotation of the shaft,

causes it to oscillate within the slot in the anvil block 19 and produces vibration of the diaphragm vibrating means, as explained in my said patent.

The means for rotating the shaft 21 are attached thereto close to the bearing thereof where the oscillatory movement of said shaft is least. In the form shown, wherein the actuatlon is by manually operated means,

a pinion 32 is secured to theshaft 21 at the .tion on the stub-shaft 35 in the shell 12,

end nearthe bearing, and a crown wheel 33 meshes therewith and is mounted forv rotathe crown wheel being dished as shown .at 34L -whereby ample room is provided for the operating parts in the cavity so formed, and

at the same time a comparatively small pinion 32 may be used so that a relatively high speed may be imparted to the shaft 21. The crown gear may be rotated in any desired manner, but its shaft 36 is here shown as provided with a pinion 37, and a rack .38 having a hand-piece v'39 meshes therewith and is mounted in guides 10 on the shell 12, a spring 41 being provided for returning said rack to elevated position after the same has been depressed.

It will be noted that a signal horn con-' 1. In signal apparatus, vibratory means,

means for imparting vibration thereto including a shaft with a loose bearing at one end, and means in the neighborhood of said bearing and between the ends of the shaft for imparting rotation to Said shaft.

2. In signal apparatus, a vibratory member, an oscillatory rotary hammer, stationary means for guiding said hammer for oscillation in a plane, a universal mounting for i one end of said hammer, and means on said hammer near the universal mounting and between the ends thereof for imparting ro tation thereto.

3. In signal apparatus, an unbalanced rotary shaft, vibratorymeans, means whereby said .vibratory means. is vibrated upon rotation of theshaft, guide means for the shaft, and a universal bearing forsaid shaft at one end thereof and means applied to said shaft between its ends for imparting rotation to said shaft.

4:. In signal apparatus, a vibratorymemher, an unbalanced rotary member comprising a rigid shaft having auniversalmounting at one end, stationary guiding means for causing the rotary member to oscillate in a plane and deliver hammer blows to the vibratory '-member, and means applied to said shaft between its ends for imparting rotation to said shaft. 7

5. In signal apparatus, a diaphragm having a slotted anvil block thereon, aslotted guide supported away from said diaphragm,

an unbalanced shaft passing through said slots, a loose bearing for the-other end of the shaft, a pinion on said shaft near the loose bearing, a dished crown gear meshing with said pinion, andmeans including a "hand piece for imparting rotation to said crown gear.

6. I11 signal apparatus, the combination loosely journaled end permitting the shaft of a vibratory member and an unbalanced to oscillate, and means coacting With said rotary hammer for imparting Vibration pinion to rotate said hammer. 10

thereto, said hammer comprising a substan- In testimony that I claim the foregoing,

5 tially rigid shaft and a Weight and a pinion, I hereto set my hand; this 1st day of Desaid shaft being loosely journaled at one cember 1916. end and having a mounting away from the ALEXANDER N. PIE-RMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of .Patents, Washington, D. G. 

